Our Team

Katherine Hensel

Principal, B.A., LLB

Katherine Hensel is the founder and principal lawyer at Hensel Barristers. Katherine is Secwepemc (Shuswap).
Katherine was called to the bar in 2003. After commencing her practice at a large firm in Toronto, in 2004 she joined the Ipperwash Inquiry (an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of an Anishnaabek man, Dudley George), as Assistant Commission Counsel, and served the Commission in that capacity until the release of its report in 2007.

In 2007, Katherine joined a prominent litigation firm in Toronto, before leaving to establish Hensel Barristers in 2011.

Katherine has built a diverse practice focused on serving First Nations and their members. She has provided advice and acted in disputes concerning the assertion of Aboriginal and treaty rights, the duty to consult, commercial matters, public inquiries (including British Columbia's Missing and Murdered Women's Inquiry, as counsel for the Native Women's Association of Canada), child welfare matters, and select criminal cases.

In 2012, as co-counsel with Stockwoods LLP, Katherine successfully set aside the decision of the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs to appoint a Third Party Manager to Attawapiskat First Nation.

In 2013, Katherine was awarded the Minaake Award for Human Rights and Advocacy from the Native Women's Resource Centre. As well, she was the recipient of the 2013 Arleen Goss Young Advocates' Award.

Katherine is a member of the Indigenous Bar Association, the Advocates' Society and the Canadian Bar Association.

Daniel McCoy

Articling student

Daniel joined Hensel Barristers as an Articling student shortly after completing his J.D. at Osgoode Hall Law School. Daniel is of mixed European and Anishinaabe ancestry and is a member of Batchewana First Nation of Ojibways. Daniel was born and raised in Batchewana's traditional territory. He left home in 2015 to pursue his legal education in Toronto.

At Osgoode Hall Law School, Daniel was an active member of the Osgoode Indigenous Students' Association (OISA). In first year he served as a 1L Representative and in his 2L and 3L years served as Co-Chair. As one of OISA's representatives, Daniel worked with other students and members of faculty to recommend the adoption of Osgoode's Indigenous and Aboriginal Law Requirement. Beginning in the fall of 2018 J.D. students enrolled at Osgoode will now be required to take a course offering in Indigenous and Aboriginal law as part of their J.D. studies. For his leadership with OISA, Daniel was 1 of 12 student leaders to receive a Dean's Gold Key award.

Daniel participated in Osgoode's Anishinaabe Law Camp in 2L and 3L at the Chippewas of Nawash First Nation and at the Chippewas of Rama First Nation respectively. Daniel was also on Osgoode's team for the Kawaskimhon National Aboriginal Law Moot in 2017. In his final year at Osgoode, Daniel was enrolled in the Intensive Program in Aboriginal Lands, Governments and Resources where he was placed at the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation in their Department of Consultation and Accommodation.

Rebecca Bryan

Legal Assistant

Rebecca is a recent addition to the team at Hensel Barristers. As legal assistant, she is responsible for ensuring the lawyers are where they are supposed to be and that they have the right file with the right documents. She also assists with payroll, company benefits, and other exciting things including office decoration.

Rebecca graduated from the University of Toronto in 2016 with a degree in Political Science and International relations, and has since worked for an employment law firm in Toronto as a legal assistant. Rebecca is very passionate about indigenous law and about organizational efficiency. In her spare time, she can be found practicing yoga, and studying for the LSAT.

Josephine de Whytell

Associate

Josephine is from the County of Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom. She grew up in Leeds, and gained an Assisted Place to enable her to attend Leeds Girls' High School, where she completed her GCSE's and A-levels. She worked at her parent's art shop on the weekends and worked as a legal assistant immediately following high school. Josephine then attended the University of Keele, in England, to study Law with Philosophy.

After obtaining her degree, she moved to Saskatoon in 2008 and worked as a legal assistant at Semaganis Worme Legal.

She completed the Canadian National Committee on Accreditation process and articled under Donald E. Worme, Q.C., IPC (Queen's Counsel and Indigenous Peoples Counsel). Mr. Worme, Q.C., IPC was former Commission Counsel for the Ipperwash Inquiry, Stonechild Inquiry, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and represented the Assembly of First Nations in the Provincial Missing and Murdered Women Inquiry in British Columbia.

As a paralegal and articling student, Josephine became acquainted with the array of unique Indigenous Nations in Saskatchewan and has focused her legal practice towards advocating for Indigenous clients in areas of constitutional law, criminal law, child welfare law, and litigation, as well as First Nation elections.

Josephine was called to the Saskatchewan bar in 2012 and continued to work at Semaganis Worme Legal representing various First Nations, Tribal Councils, Indigenous organizations, and individuals facing discrimination in the justice system.

Josephine acted as counsel for the deceased's family in the Kinew James Inquest and is engaged in various litigation and appeals across the country defending the inherent rights of Indigenous Nations to regulate child welfare in their jurisdictions.

As well as position papers and legal opinions, Josephine has also drafted and delivered presentations, articles and speeches on the subject of inherent and Treaty rights, restorative justice, militarization of the police, gaps in the prison system, and genocide, among others.

As a non-Indigenous honourary member of the Indigenous Bar Association, Josephine understands her Lawyer's Oath as comprising an additional element whereby she is accountable to the Indigenous communities she represents and has a duty to do no harm to Indigenous peoples, rights, or interests with the knowledge and skills she has gained throughout her practice.

Julia Tousaw

Associate

Julia Tousaw is from Goderich, Ontario and was a member of the Charter Class of the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law at Lakehead University, where she focused her studies on Aboriginal law and Indigenous legal traditions before graduating with the silver medal. Julia finished law school with a total of 12 months' work experience in criminal and family law, having worked as a law student for Legal Aid Ontario in Thunder Bay and Timmins, and for the Crown Attorney's Office in Kenora.

Julia went on to article at a Crown Attorney's Office in southern Ontario. She was called to the Bar in June 2017 and spent her first year of practice prosecuting offences under the Criminal Code as an Assistant Crown Attorney. She switched gears in June 2018 when she joined Hensel Barristers as an Associate. She has never looked back.

Julia is an avid runner, fiddler and paddler. She is published in the Indigenous Law Journal.